QR National hires two North Americans

Australian railroad QR National Ltd. (QRN) has appointed two new senior executives to the company's management team, both with extensive experience in the North American railway industry.

Mike Franczak has been named executive vice president Operations; he resigned Oct. 1 from Canadian Pacific after 25 years with CP, most recently as executive vice president and COO.

Alex Kummant, a former Amtrak CEO, has been appointed to the newly created role of executive vice president Strategy. Kummant also served as vice president in several roles at Union Pacific.

"These appointments underscore our determination to put in place outstanding management capability to execute on the changes required for the company, now and into the future," said QRN Managing Director and CEO Lance Hockridge.

"Mike's expertise will be essential as we continue to transform QR National's operations and bring the company's operating metrics in line with the North American Class I railways, while Alex will bring to bear his extensive global experience in the design and development of our enterprise strategy," Hockridge said.

Both roles report directly to Mr Hockridge; Mr Franczak commencing in January 2013, while Mr Kummant's appointment was effective October 2012.